Source: tev.hu
summary of incident
On 25 April 2025, in downtown Budapest, a group of German tourists attacked eight Israeli Orthodox Jewish men after evening prayers, shouting antisemitic slurs and Nazi slogans.
Details of incident
On 25 April 2025, in downtown Budapest, a group of approximately 15 German tourists, some reportedly drunk, attacked eight Israeli Orthodox Jewish men. After evening prayers, the Israelis passed by the group, who began shouting antisemitic slurs, including “Heil Hitler.” One of the German men physically assaulted an Israeli individual, shouting “dirty Jew, I will kill you,” performing a Nazi salute, and beating him until he lost consciousness. The victim’s glasses and kippah were knocked off during the attack. Police detained one of the assailants at the scene and, the following day, also detained the victim, who was held for several hours until the hate-crime unit and a translator arrived.
Context of incident
Following the Hamas terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023 in Israel and the subsequent war, Europe witnessed a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents. For example, in Germany antisemitic cases rose by about 80% in 2023 compared to 2022. In France, authorities recorded 1676 antisemitic acts in 2023, which is a steep rise after 2022 (436 incidents). In Austria, antisemitic cases increased more than fourfold in the last month of 2023 compared with the same periods of 2022.
In Hungary, the number of violent antisemitic incidents has remained relatively low and did not show a significant increase in 2023. Nevertheless, the prevalence of antisemitic hate speech and conspiracy narratives continues to be high.
Since Viktor Orbán and Benjamin Netanyahu are close political allies, the Hungarian government has banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations and sought to suppress antisemitic voices even within its own political camp. The attack occurred in a context shaped by exclusionary nationalism, revisionist memory politics, mainstreamed conspiracy rhetoric, visible far‑right activity, and inconsistent institutional responses to hate crimes. Even though the perpetrators were German, the Hungarian political and social climate reduces the stigma around antisemitic expression, making such incidents more likely to unfold openly and with a sense of impunity.
